After the Full-Level Boss Entered the Infinite Game By Mistake

Chapter 698

“What did you do last night? Why didn’t you come home?” Mother Bai Lixin looked at Bai Lixin with confusion, scanning him up and down. “Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?”

Suddenly, she became anxious. “Did you encounter something dirty again?”

Bai Lixin quickly shook his head. “I went to tutor a middle school student last night. I accidentally got splashed with cold water at his house, so I caught a slight fever today. I’m fine now. Li Cancan already accompanied me to get an IV.”

Mother Bai Lixin let out a long sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s what happened. But why didn’t you come home last night?”

Bai Lixin’s eyes momentarily turned blank. “I… my clothes were wet, so I stayed at the student’s house overnight and went straight to school the next day.”

Mother Bai Lixin gently placed her hand on his forehead. “Has the fever gone down?”

Bai Lixin: “Yes, I’ll just go to the school doctor tomorrow to get some more medicine.”

Mother Bai Lixin looked a bit guilty. “Xin Xin, it’s all because your mother is useless and you got this illness. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

The pale, slender young man smiled slightly. “Mom, it’s okay.”

Mother Bai Lixin had suffered from a mental illness for several years and had taken many medications before gradually recovering. However, her condition required continuous medication, as long periods without it would easily lead to a relapse.

To pay for his mother’s treatment, Bai Lixin had to work tirelessly to make money.

After a day of fever, Bai Lixin’s head was still fuzzy.

The house wasn’t very big, with three bedrooms and one living room, and a guest room where Xia Chi could stay.

Bai Lixin helped Xia Chi settle in and chatted with him for a while before heading to bed.

Late at night, Bai Lixin was half asleep when he vaguely heard footsteps outside.

The sound was like the shuffling of feet in slippers, dragging and scraping across the floor.

Soon after, there were noises as if something had been knocked over.

Bai Lixin, who had been in a daze, suddenly woke up.

Could it be Xia Chi looking for water and having bumped into something?

It was late autumn, and the night air was cool.

Bai Lixin threw on a jacket, got out of bed, turned on the light, and shone his phone’s flashlight outside.

Not wanting to wake up his mother, he lowered his voice. “Xia Chi?”

The living room was silent and empty.

Bai Lixin walked over to the dining table in the kitchen. A glass had been knocked over, and water was spilling out, slowly flowing towards the edge of the table.

Was it Xia Chi who knocked over the glass?

Bai Lixin grabbed a towel and wiped the water off the table.

At that moment, the sound of the toilet flushing echoed from behind the closed bathroom door. Bai Lixin glanced at Xia Chi’s bedroom. A light was streaming through the crack under the door. It seemed Xia Chi had gone to the bathroom.

Yawning, Bai Lixin rubbed his eyes and went back to his room to continue sleeping.

In the middle of the night, he felt something heavy pressing down on him, as if something was weighing on his body.

He tried to struggle and push it off, but his head was groggy, his eyes wouldn’t open, and his body wouldn’t move.

That night, he slept particularly uncomfortably, and he vaguely heard the sound of the toilet flushing again.

It wasn’t until morning, when the alarm rang, that Bai Lixin finally sat up, exhausted. He rubbed his aching head, feeling nauseous.

He staggered into the bathroom, leaned over the toilet and started retching.

His throat was dry and sore, as if inflamed. There was a painful tearing sensation, and there was a strange fishy taste in his mouth.

Even after retching for a long time, nothing came out. Bai Lixin forced his eyes open and stumbled to the sink to wash up.

In the mirror, he saw a pale, haggard face.

Bai Lixin was very good-looking, with fair skin and a slender, well-proportioned figure. The lines of his collarbone were clearly visible.

He stared at himself in the mirror, noticing something under the collar of his loose pajamas.

Bai Lixin tugged at his collar and found a red mark on his collarbone.

He touched it, but it didn’t hurt. He wasn’t sure if he had bumped into something or if it was a bug bite.

“Ah! Brother, your dark circles are so heavy!” Xia Chi rushed in, shuffling in his slippers, startled by Bai Lixin’s appearance. “Is your cold getting worse?”

Bai Lixin rubbed his temples and let out a cat-like aggrieved voice. “My head hurts.”

Xia Chi: “You can’t go on like this. You should take a day off and rest at home.”

Bai Lixin also felt that his current state was very bad. He nodded in agreement and left the bathroom to give Xia Chi space.

His mother had prepared breakfast, but Bai Lixin had a headache and couldn’t eat. He told his mother and went back to his room.

He quickly sent a message to his teacher asking for leave, then buried himself under the covers and went back to sleep.

Through the bedroom door, he faintly heard Xia Chi and his mother talking in the living room.

After a while, he heard the sound of the door opening and closing, as if Xia Chi had left for school.

A bit later, his mother knocked on the door. “Xiao Xin, I’m going out to buy you some medicine. There’s breakfast in the pot in the kitchen. If you’re hungry, get up and eat something.”

Bai Lixin mumbled a response and turned over to sleep again.

The sound of the door opening and closing came again, and Bai Lixin gradually drifted back into unconsciousness.

In his dazed state, it seemed like someone turned him over.

A pair of cold hands rested on his forehead, sliding down his nose to his mouth, prying it open and feeding him something.

It was something sweet and soft.

It instantly soothed his dry, burning throat. Bai Lixin instinctively held onto it, sucking hard, wanting more to relieve his discomfort.

He felt like he had been sucking for a long time, so long that he fell asleep with it in his mouth.

When he woke up again, the sky outside was already somewhat dark.

Bai Lixin was stunned for a moment when he saw the view outside, then quickly checked the time on his phone. It was already 5:3 in the afternoon.

He had slept from just after seven in the morning until five-thirty in the afternoon, a full ten hours of sleep.

However, this long sleep had made him feel much better. His headache was gone, and he felt a lot more energized.

There was a glass of water and a box of cold medicine on the table, likely left by his mother.

Bai Lixin took the medicine with water and struggled to get up from the bed.

Illness always struck like a collapsing mountain. His constitution was never very good, and he always felt terrible whenever he caught a cold.

After several tries, he still couldn’t get up. Bai Lixin had no choice but to pick up his phone and make a call.

Zhou Guang was his employer. He lived in a villa on the outskirts of the city. He was wealthy, a successful lawyer, with a son who had just started middle school.

His son had weak academic foundations, and after starting middle school, he began to struggle with keeping up. So, Lawyer Zhou Guang hired Bai Lixin as his tutor. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, Bai Lixin would go to his house to tutor the boy.

The pay Lawyer Zhou Guang offered for the tutoring was high, and he was a decent person, so Bai Lixin cherished this job.

Today was Thursday, and in theory, he should have gone to Lawyer Zhou Guang’s house to tutor.

Bai Lixin’s illness caused day and night to turn upside down and he slept all the time.

He took two days off and slept through them at home. By Saturday, his cold had finally subsided.

His head no longer spun, his throat no longer hurt, and his fever was gone.

By all accounts, he should have been better, but for some reason, Bai Lixin’s face grew paler by the day.

Seeing Bai Lixin getting dressed and putting on his backpack, Xia Chi couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, are you going out?”

Bai Lixin: “Yeah, I have a student who needs tutoring. The exam is next week, and the parent is urging me to go over.”

Looking at Bai Lixin’s loose, oversized clothes, Xia Chi frowned. “Brother, should I go with you?”

Bai Lixin had always been thin, and after being sick these past few days, he seemed even thinner.

The white hoodie he was wearing hung loosely on his body, unable to fit properly.

Xia Chi was really worried that his brother might faint on the way.

“It’s fine,” Bai Lixin smiled weakly. “You stay home with mom. Since you came, her mood has improved a lot.”

Xia Chi responded with an “Oh,” and added, “If anything happens, make sure to call me.”

Lawyer Zhou Guang’s house was in the suburbs, in a rather remote area.

Normally, Bai Lixin would first take the subway to the edge of the Fifth Ring Road, then take a taxi to Zhou Guang’s house.

The whole trip took about forty minutes, and Zhou Guang would reimburse the taxi fare.

The villa complex where they lived was called “Bihai Bay,” a high-end project developed by the Sun Group, the largest real estate developer in City B.

At the time, they had marketed it with the slogan, “Bihai Bay, enjoy the blue seas and skies of City B,” and had even excavated a massive artificial lake, and the villas were built along its shore.

However, for reasons unknown—perhaps funding issues—the Sun Group abandoned the project. Only the first ten villas were completed, while the remaining thirty were left unfinished, scattered like debris.

The taxi sped along the asphalt road by the lake. The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm, orange glow across the lake, causing the water to shimmer like gold.

The distant mountain peaks were bathed in golden light, standing tall between the blue lake and sky. At that moment, it resembled a forgotten masterpiece of art, soothing to the soul.

When the driver dropped Bai Lixin off, he glanced at the villa complexamd clicked his tongue.

“It’s beautiful, sure, but it’s so deserted, it feels like a ghost town.”

Only ten villas had been built in Bihai Bay, and of those, only two were inhabited.

Zhou Guang lived there because he was the Sun Group’s chief lawyer, saving them billions in losses each year. To show their gratitude, the Sun Group had gifted him one of the villas.

Because he had missed Thursday, Bai Lixin arrived an hour and a half earlier to make up for the lost tutoring time. But this extra time was free of charge.

Zhou Guang, the king of overworking, was still at work even on the weekend. When Bai Lixin arrived, only Zhou Zirui and a live-in housekeeper were at home, staring blankly at each other in the living room.

Zhou Zirui was excited to see Bai Lixin.

The boy had just entered puberty and was at the stage of his voice changing. He shouted in his duck-like voice, “Teacher, you’re finally here!!!”

His voice was so loud that anyone who didn’t know better would think he was summoning a ghost.

Bai Lixin, familiar with the routine, changed into his slippers and patted his backpack, raising a thick, neat eyebrow. “Let’s go to your room.”

Zhou Zirui leaped off the couch like a rocket. “Alright, yes, sir!”

Like many boys just starting middle school, Zhou Zirui was still childish and had a playful streak.

When Bai Lixin opened Zhou Ziru’s textbook, the first thing he saw was a crumpled sketch inside.

It was a sloppy, awkward pencil drawing of a half-body figure, the face elongated like a donkey.

Bai Lixin didn’t recognize the person in the drawing, but he did recognize the clothes.

His mouth twitched. “Is this supposed to be me?”

Zhou Zirui blushed and quickly snatched the drawing from the book. “I was just doodling.”

“It’s a great drawing,” Bai Lixin affirmed.

Zhou Ziru’s eyes lit up immediately.

Bai Lixin added, “Don’t draw it again.”

Zhou Ziru: “…”

Since he had just recovered from a cold and didn’t want to pass it on to the boy, Bai Lixin wore a mask throughout the session.

Zhou Guang often complained that Zhou Zirui had a poor attitude toward studying, but whenever Bai Lixin was tutoring him, the boy listened attentively.

However, today Zhou Zirui was acting strange. He kept staring at Bai Lixin’s face.

Bai Lixin: “Is there something on my face? You keep staring.”

Zhou Zirui actually nodded and pointed to Bai Lixin’s forehead. “Teacher, why is there a red flame mark here? Is it supposed to look cool? Or are you cosplaying?”

Bai Lixin was taken aback and opened the selfie camera on his phone.

The young man in the camera had a pale face, but his forehead was smooth and clean—no red flame mark.

“I don’t see any red flame.” Bai Lixin pressed his fingers to his brow, frowning.

“Huh,” Zhou Zirui blinked, “It’s gone. Did I see it wrong? I couldn’t have, right?”

Whether he did or didn’t, it didn’t matter.

The lesson had to continue.

Brace yourself, young man—you’re about to drown in a sea of knowledge.

At 8:30 p.m., as Bai Lixin was about to leave, Lawyer Zhou Guang finally staggered in, exhausted.

“Teacher Bai Lixin, are you heading out?” Zhou Guang, dressed in typical elite professional attire, had dark circles under his eyes that couldn’t be concealed.

“Yes, I gave Zirui his assignments for the next few days. I’ll check them next time I’m here.”

“Actually, Teacher Bai Lixin, I have something to discuss with you,” Zhou Guang slumped his shoulders as he changed into his slippers, then tugged at the tie around his neck. “I have to go on a business trip out of town for a week. Could you stay at my place during that time to help Zirui with his studies? His exams are in a month, and he’s quite headstrong—the housekeeper can’t control him. You’re the only one he listens to.”

Bai Lixin hesitated, “This…”

Zhou Guang extended his hand, “Twenty thousand, how about that?”

Bai Lixin: “Of course, no problem.”

‘It’s not about the money at all, it’s purely concern for my student!’

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Lawyer Zhou Guang breathed a sigh of relief, “You almost scared me to death when you fell into the lake that day.”

Bai Lixin was stunned, “Fell into the lake?”

When did he fall into the lake?

Wasn’t it just that the housekeeper accidentally spilled a basin of cold water on him?

Zhou Guang was busy fiddling with something on his phone, and soon Bai Lixin’s own phone chimed with a notification.

[Ding, Alipay: You’ve received 30,000 yuan.]

Bai Lixin: “…”

‘Hello, God of Wealth.’

Zhou Guang: “Twenty thousand is for staying here this week, and the other ten thousand is for your troubles.”

He quickly stood up and walked upstairs, “The driver is still waiting outside; I need to pack and leave immediately.”

“What’s so urgent? Why not wait until tomorrow?” Bai Lixin knew it was work-related, but he couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

‘Is this what the adult world is like? So competitive.’

Zhou Guang: “Yes, it’s urgent. There’s an issue with the subsidiary in S City, and I need to head there right away.”

About ten minutes later, Zhou Guang came downstairs dragging a dark suitcase. Before leaving, he reminded, “Teacher Bai Lixin, this artificial lake is quite dangerous. You’d better stay away from it. If anything happens, call me. Zirui is in your care.”

Bai Lixin: “Okay…”

Someone once said, if you want someone to do something, forbid them from doing it.

If you tell them not to look up, they’ll most likely do so subconsciously.

Zhou Guang telling Bai Lixin to stay away from the lake only fueled his curiosity about going near it.

But in the middle of the night? Was he still sick?

He would go, but during the day. He’ll check it out when it’s bright.

Zhou Guang’s house had many guest rooms, and Bai Lixin had stayed over a few times before. This time, he stayed in the same room.

The guest room on the first floor had all the necessary toiletries and pajamas.

Sitting in the living room, Bai Lixin was chatting with Xia Chi over the phone, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Bai Lixin glanced at the time; it was ten o’clock at night.

Who could it be at this hour?

He got up, walked to the door, and peered through the peephole in confusion.

The dim glow of a night light illuminated part of the night, but there was no one at the door.

Did he hear wrong?

As he was about to turn away, the knocking came again.

This time, he quickly turned back and looked through the peephole again. Still, no one was there.

Bai Lixin suddenly became alert.

He had seen on TV that some criminals would mimic knocking sounds or animal noises to trick people into opening the door, then break in to commit crimes.

With his pale, slender hand pressed against the door, Bai Lixin deliberately lowered his voice, speaking in a hoarse, dragged tone, “Who’s out there? Keep it up, and I’ll call the police.”

The knocking stopped. Bai Lixin quietly let out a breath and locked the door with a click.

“What’s wrong, Teacher Bai Lixin?” The housekeeper dressed in a robe stepped out of the nearby first-floor bedroom. “I heard you talking.”

Just as Bai Lixin was about to explain, the knocking started again, this time louder and more forceful, as if someone was hammering at the door urgently and violently, as though trying to break it down.

“Who is it, knocking like this in the middle of the night?” The housekeeper rubbed her ears and quickly walked over to open the door.

“Wait, don’t open it.” Bai Lixin himself pressed against the door, then raised his voice and spoke with a cold tone, “This isn’t a lawless place. I’ve already called the police. If you don’t leave now, you’ll be arrested.”

The knocking stopped once more.

Looking through the peephole, Bai Lixin saw a dark, shadowy figure fading into the night.

As the figure left, Bai Lixin felt it was inexplicably familiar.

Could it have been someone he knew?

After searching his brain for some time and not finding any clues, Bai Lixin gave up.

“That really scared me,” the housekeeper patted her chest. “No wonder Mr. Zhou insisted you stay here. He really thought things through. Teacher Bai Lixin, thank goodness you were here tonight.”

Bai Lixin: “Auntie, you should get some rest. I’ll go check on Zirui.”

By this time, the lights in Zhou Zirui’s room were already off. After confirming that the boy was soundly asleep, Bai Lixin finally returned to his own room.

Lying in bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about the figure he saw through the peephole. It seemed so familiar.

Who could it have been?

…

Late into the night, everything was silent.

In Bai Lixin’s room, a black mist slowly swirled up from under the bed, condensing into a vague human shape.

“It” moved silently, sliding toward the young man, its figure swaying as it approached the bed.

Sensing a weight, the young man on the bed frowned and turned over.

The black mist gently lifted the blanket off him and sat down in front of him.

A slender tendril of mist extended, landing on the young man’s forehead.

The mist caressed downward and slowly reached the young man’s lips.

On the overly pale face, the young man’s lips stood out, a vivid crimson, like plum blossoms blooming stubbornly in the snow, stirring a desire to crush them.

The black mist slipped between the young man’s teeth, then a swelling cloud of mist surged into his mouth.

The young man’s brows furrowed tightly, his expression turning pained.

The mist, however, didn’t seem to have any intention of letting him go, continuing to churn and tremble in the air.

The young man’s hand reflexively gripped the pillow, a muffled sound of distress escaping from his mouth.

It was unclear how much time passed, but the black mist trembled violently and spasmed before it finally withdrew from the young man’s mouth.

The young man’s throat moved unconsciously, as if he were swallowing something.

In the pitch-black silence, a low voice sighed, “My sweet bride, you taste so good.”

When Bai Lixin woke up, his body ached as if he’d been run over by a car, particularly his lips, which were swollen.

Looking in the mirror, he saw his lips were chapped, and there was a strange taste lingering in his mouth and nose.

It was almost like… the taste of a man’s…

Bai Lixin suddenly felt nauseous and quickly rinsed his mouth, trying to rid himself of the taste.

He looked at the time and saw it was still early, just seven in the morning.

It was the weekend, and Zhou Zirui was still sleeping in. The housekeeper was familiar with the boy’s habits, and she also took the opportunity to enjoy a rare lazy morning.

Bai Lixin left the house early.

Zhou Guang’s villa was only about three hundred meters from the center of the artificial lake, and it took only a few minutes to get there.

A light mist had settled over the water, and the weather was cooler. The entire lake was shrouded in a faint fog.

Standing by the lake, Zhou Guang’s words rang out in Bai Lixin’s mind.

— “You almost scared me to death when you fell into the lake that day.”

Fell into the lake?

Which day?

When did he ever fall into the lake?

Why couldn’t he remember?

Bai Lixin bent over, staring at his reflection in the water.

His slender figure seemed even thinner in the rippling water, as if at any moment, he might be swallowed up by the lake’s waves.

He smiled at his reflection, and the young man in the lake smiled back at him.

But when Bai Lixin stopped smiling, the young man in the lake kept smiling.

Bai Lixin’s vision gradually blurred. He saw the figure in the lake wave at him, its mouth moving as if trying to say something.

Bai Lixin blinked, braced his hands on the stones by the lake and leaned in, his face nearly touching the water as he tried to hear what the figure was saying.

His body leaned further and further over the lake, his cheek nearly brushing the surface.

“Hey! Step away from there!”

Suddenly, someone shouted from behind.

Bai Lixin was startled awake, and after realizing his current posture, a chill went down his spine, and all the blood in his body froze.

Any later, and he would have fallen into the lake.

He stumbled away from the water, and heard a dog bark.

Not far from him, a man stood with a border collie, which was barking furiously at him.

Bai Lixin was certain his face looked terrible at the moment. He tugged at his disheveled clothes in a panic and his voice had a tremble, “Thank you.”

The man appeared to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven, tall, with silver hair and a handsome face.

His long, narrow eyes assessed Bai Lixin up and down, “Someone died in this artificial lake before. They say the drowned can’t reincarnate unless there’s a substitute to take their place. You should stay away from this lake in the future.”

Bai Lixin nodded, still in shock, but the dog the man held continued to bark at him relentlessly.

The border collie bared its teeth and snarled, its drool splattering as it barked incessantly.

Its ferocious appearance was as if it had seen a ghost.